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Moving from Naim

My Densen B330+ saw off my old olive Nap 135's. It was very obvious. And Im a big fan of the olive 135's. That was my 3rd pair before I sold them. They were late and fully serviced. I so wanted to keep them as I have no immediate plans to change my Nac 52 and CDS3. The speakers were Neat 3is + Rel Storm 3. Used Nac A5. The Densen was amazing. Massive slam. Massive sound. Transparency was superb.Heard more of what the source was offering. Speed and grip. Sense of much more power. More of everything really. One box and only the weight of about one 135. The Nap 135's still sounded very good by the way. But the Densens performance and the thought of a service a few years down the line - decision made.
There are downsides to the Densen. Its not cheap. Last rrp I think was around the £3500 mark. They are rare if your thinking of a used unit.There is no short cct protection. Found out the hard way. Got my speaker leads round the wrong way. Wouldn't normally matter but the Rel is at speaker level with one negative to REL GND. Bang ! Off for repair. Silliness like this not covered by the lifetime warranty. Also, after switching amp off must be left for around 10 minutes before switching on again. Otherwise you'll get the speaker 'switch on' thump/crack from hell. Sounds superb though. Offers serious competition to considerably more expensive amps. Its a cracker - literally :D.
Same here, I replaced my 135s with a pair of Densen B-350s. Then I went the whole hog and got the B-250 and B-400XS to replace the 52 and CDS2. No regrets whatsoever. OK, maybe I miss the 52 a little but the B-250 is a very transparent and musical preamplifier.

The 400XS has since given up its ghost and has been replaced (partly under lifetime warranty) by 440XS and I'm relishing the use of a Dynavector HX-1.2mk2 with the B-250 into Yamaha NS-1000Ms. As good as the B-350s are, the HX-1.2mk2 has just a bit more grip and authority. When I reinstate the semi-active Ergo-X, I'll put both Densen and Dynavector amps on duty.
 
Could not agree more, sage words.

I'm not knocking people who want to swap/change/tinker, that is also a kind of hobby in itself.

If I turned the clock back quite a few years I was probably in that camp myself, but not now.

All I want now is to put on the CD or record and for great music to fill the room. I know this sounds very simple but it took quite a few years of tinkering, learning and, above all else, listening.

I not trying in any way to sound smug or that I have reached some sort of enlightened Nirvana, I'm just happy for the hi-fi demons, for use of a better word, to have been exorcised.

Inveterate tinkerer and changer here. For 20 + years now. When I tire of all the effort and time taken ( and space) , I will probably settle for a one make system and be done. That day will surely come.
 
I was sick of all the burndies & cables and thinking my system is sounds not as good as it can because of cable dressing or any missing upgradable part, so I've decided to switch from Naim to Vitus Audio and reduce my box count. Now I'm awaiting my new Vitus Audio gear to come.
 
I was sick of all the burndies & cables and thinking my system is sounds not as good as it can because of cable dressing or any missing upgradable part, so I've decided to switch from Naim to Vitus Audio and reduce my box count. Now I'm awaiting my new Vitus Audio gear to come.

Same here but I went to the NAD M3 absolutely no regrets. I never think about my amplifier also compared to Naim (other than the 500) it is quite powerful which really woke up my (Neat) isobaric speakers.

Please post your impressions when it arrives.
 
The ri-100 is a fabulous amp and doesn't give up that much to its sia-025 cousin. I've owned both and although I decided on the sia-025 it wasn't a night and day decision.
 
I've been with Naim for 25 years now. Started with a used Nait 1 my senior year of highschool and got up to CDX/82/HC/250, with a reasonably well spec-ed LP12 doing the business up front. At one point I downgraded to a Nait 5, and quickly lost interest. I sold the whole lot of it a few years ago (probably was on my 3rd Lp12 by then).

The itch tormented again last year, and I bought a Rega Brio R, an RP3 and pulled my old fluted Ela 1's out of the closet. I said, "Wooop, this is really great". And in a fit of that particular type of insanity that causes audiophiles to decide perfectly nice sounding stuff just doesn't cost enough, I spec-ed out a new LP12 and located a used Nait XS-2. . . Again into my Elas.

But I don't love my Nait. Not like I loved my old one. And I'm increasingly of the opinion that as I age (or who knows), there's nothing up the Naim (or Rega) ladder that's going to get me to fall in love with it again.

So I hauled it to my local dealer the day before yesterday, and damnit if I haven't moved on . . . I still love the LP12 (to say nothing of the Karma I just picked up for it) but I'm fairly certain I'm moving to a sweet little hand built tube amp from Leben and I'm going to try a pair of high efficiency speakers and a step-up transformer for the phono stage.

We'll see.
Judd
 
Moving from Naim can be difficult in that the company marketing would have you believe that Naim is the best HiFi kit that money can buy, and when you're fairly high up the cost ladder of 'upgrades' it can be both difficult and expensive to get off.

However all HiFi systems are compromises of one sort or another, and these days the weakest links in the chain are still the recording, the speaker, the speaker/room interface, and the room acoustics.

In controlled (and blind) listening tests, most amplifiers when not driven into distortion, sound more alike than different.

Obsessing over speaker cables, interconnects and equipment racks is very much put into perspective, when a alight change of speaker position in the room will make much greater changes to the perceived sound of a system, than swapping interconnects or speaker leads around - the purchase of which is at great expense to you and of course profit to the marketeer of same.

My light bulb moment occurred when expanding my Naim system to incorporate an AV solution, reading up on the published papers of Dr. Floyd Toole, Sean Olive, David Moulton, and Dr. Geoff Martin amongst others, and I ended up swapping out and selling my Naim electronics in favour of Sony 9000ES series.

I eventually became tired of all the obsessing around with separates, tinkering and always trying to achieve the best sound, and found myself enjoying the music less and less.

Finally, I went for a fully active B&O solution - five years ago now - and it's been the best performing (as in most authentic sound) of all the kit I've ever owned, and importantly, the least stressful in terms of sucking one in to tinkering and obsessing over the system, rather than enjoying the music.

One turns it on and it fills the room with beautiful music. With it, I've got my love of music and movies back, and the system gets right out of the way to allow me to enjoy them - which is surely what it should all be about.

My Naim years were fun, and the kit was very good, but I am very happy to be off the separates upgrade ladder - always feeling that there was 'more' to be had, and the obsessing over the kit that went with it - and to be free at long last of so many audiophile demons in the pursuit of the promised perfect sound at the end of a very expensive golden rainbow.

Going for a fully active system from B&O fulfils what I want out of a HiFi system in the home, on performance grounds and to live with, far more than my Naim kit ever did, which is probably why I will never change it - the overall ownership satisfaction is the best I've yet to encounter re a domestic HiFi/AV system.
 
Luckily, I seem to be over my box swapping days. I have had my humble Cyrus system for a few years and it gives me and my partner endless pleasure. I actually feel sorry for folks that continuously chase perfection and never get there.

I remember, back in the nineties, times when I had 3, 4 sometimes more amplifiers, cd players and speakers on home dem, listening for minute differences and faults rather than the music.

It can become an obsession for some even jeapardising relationships and cause debt problems.

I always like looking at other systems and dearly wanted to go to bristol this year but overall I have no wish to change anything.

I also believe every manufacturer has a 'sweet spot' where the best value for money can be found.

With Naim it's the XS (2), Cyrus has the 8 series, Rega the Elex-R to name a few. - After that Performance to Cost ratios diminish imho.
 
Jonboi-interesting on the B&O, am curious what your system comprises of! Please do tell if you don't mind!
 
There's no doubting the proliferation of Vitus mentions and recommendations recently. For a relative newcomer to higher end audio, this is quite something.

Having changed from Naim (552/135s/Superline etc.) by degrees to a now all valved system (E.A.R. / Lector) into big Quads, I'm more than happy with the box count and improvement in the holographic involvement factor.

However, I did consider Vitus; even the integrated, as an alternative, but I really don't appreciate where Vitus fits in the presentation stakes. The best I've gleaned is as a valvey aspect to a s/s delivery. The benefits of s/s but with the more organically 'tangible' aspects of valves.

Nor have I read anywhere of the symbiosis of Vitus and electrostatic speakers, which is important, not least with regard to the ideal compatibility of my current kit.
 
I agree....I think value for money is utmost in most buyers minds these days. TBH I'm getting frustrated with Naim...the cost of upgrading (to DR) is too much I believe and I can't justify the cost of another DR upgrade (I had my 555PS upgraded to DR last year). I would also like to replace my NAC5 speaker cable (I've heard the Super Lumina speaker cable) but that's more expense so I figured let's just change the system.

Try some Tellurium Q Black speaker cable it took my Naim system to another level
 
Try some Tellurium Q Black speaker cable it took my Naim system to another level

I know the Tellurium range of cables well and in fact I used the the TQ Black speaker cables with my B&W805 Signature speakers a few years ago. At the time I was using Chord Signature cables (with my Naim gear) and I changed to the Tellurium and the result was astonishing...the cable was a fraction of the price of the Chord and it was far better in every way...like you it took my system to another level.

I use NAC5 now because I feel that it matches my Naim/Kudos Super 10 system very well, I tried the TQ Black with my Kudos speakers and it was not a match made in heaven. I have now secured a Vitus Reference amp (with a DAC) and will be selling my NAC5 soon, I will probably go back to Tellurium once I've received my amp.
 
I was sick of all the burndies & cables and thinking my system is sounds not as good as it can because of cable dressing or any missing upgradable part, so I've decided to switch from Naim to Vitus Audio and reduce my box count. Now I'm awaiting my new Vitus Audio gear to come.

I've just ordered a Vitus amp as well...I can't wait!! :)
 


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